Fate Essay Topics & Paper Examples

The ancient Greeks firmly believed that fate ruled their lives. The gods, they believed, knew the fate of each and every one of them. Their destiny was decided at birth. This philosophy became the driving force in Greek tragedies. The three Theban plays of Sophocles involving Oedipus and his family reflect this belief with tragic outcomes in each instance. Yet fate plays a much different role in the play Antigone than it does in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. Oedipus was warned by the gods as well as by prophets. He lived his life in anticipation of his fate, whereas Antigone seems to act as the master of her own fate. Both end up tragically with fate playing a starring role; but…

Talking about fate as about the only force that determines the human actions means to refer to a term that vexes and limits the human condition. The fate is given by the reaction of gods, but it is placed above people and gods. The gods participate to the human existence to help or to oppress them. The success doesn’t depend on the individual value, but on the support provided by Immortals, without any justification. Zeus is presented as the incarnation of a supreme force, but with an arbitrary will, whose manifestations can’t be predicted or avoided. The good and bad are related to criteria that have nothing to do with virtue or justice. The two Homeric poems Iliad and Odyssey…